1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile communication apparatus including a chip antenna for use in mobile communication or in a local area network (LAN).
2. Description of the Related Art
In a portable telephone 50, which is an example of a conventional mobile communication apparatus, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, a nondirectional whip antenna 51 is protrusively mounted at the upper part of a portable telephone body 52 and an electromagnetic signal is transmitted or received with the use of this whip antenna 51.
In the portable telephone, however, since the whip antenna is nondirectional, a transmitted electromagnetic signal is affected by the body of the person who is holding the portable telephone during use and therefore the antenna characteristics deteriorate. Especially in a high-power portable telephone, the user""s body greatly affects its antenna characteristics.
To reduce these effects, the whip antenna can be mounted, for example, at the lower part of the portable telephone body; however, since the whip antenna protrudes near the mouth of the person, the antenna may be an obstacle during communication.
The present invention is made to solve such problems. Accordingly, it is a feature of the present invention to provide a mobile communication apparatus which prevents transmitted electromagnetic signals from be affected by the body of a person who is holding the apparatus and which is configured such that its antenna is not an obstacle during communication.
This feature of the present invention may be achieved through the provision of a mobile communication apparatus including a chip antenna provided with: a base member made from at least one of a dielectric material and a magnetic material, at least one conductor formed at least at one of the inside and a surface of the base member, and at least one electromagnetic signal supply terminal provided on a surface of the base member in order to apply an electromagnetic signal voltage to the conductor; and an apparatus body for accommodating the chip antenna within its interior, wherein the chip antenna is disposed at a place in the apparatus body where an electromagnetic signal for transmission or reception is not significantly adversely affected.
According to the mobile communication apparatus described above, an electromagnetic signal for transmission or reception is prevented from being adversely affected by disposing the chip antenna at a position in the portable telephone body where the electromagnetic signal is unlikely to be affected by the body of a person who is using the mobile communication apparatus. Therefore, the deterioration of the antenna characteristics during transmission and reception caused by these effects can be reduced.
Since the chip antenna is disposed inside the portable telephone body, the antenna is not an obstacle during communication.
In the mobile communication apparatus, the chip antenna may be disposed at a place which is positioned at the lower part of the apparatus body during use.
According to the mobile communication apparatus described above, since the chip antenna is disposed at a portion located at the lower part of the body during use, the deterioration of the antenna characteristics during transmission and reception caused by the body of the person who is using the telephone can be further reduced.
According to a mobile communication apparatus of the present invention, a transmitted electromagnetic signal can be prevented from being adversely affected by disposing the chip antenna at a place in the body where the transmitted electromagnetic signal is unlikely to be affected by the body of a person who is holding the apparatus.